Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
Dear Mr. Michael Bidwill:
I have been an avid Cardinal fan and supporter since 1963. Like you and your father I was first elated to see that you were able to build the new stadium---and I consider it a state-of-the-art facility. Thank you. Then, it was a dream come true to see our Cardinals win 4 playoff games and play in our very first Super Bowl---and come oh so close to achieving the ultimate prize in football.
Since that game, however, I have been dismayed at the organization's reaction to sudden and rare success---like they say, you have to act like you've been there before (even if you haven't)---but to see what's become of that Super Bowl team in two and quarter years is extremely disheartening to say the least.
What precipitated my initial dismay was how you handled Kurt Warner---I believe for right or for wrong that you took the wind out of his sails following the Super Bowl. He was the straw that stirred the drink, if you will. And yet---it was an utter embarrassment to watch him and his wife have to get wined and dined in red carpet fashion by the San Francisco 49ers. My issue is that it should have never ever come to that---and had Warner been amenable to moving his family, I strongly believe he would have left Arizona out of sheer frustration with your front office and the way you do business.
To Warner's credit---he did not let his frustration affect his play in 2009---Warner is the ultimate professional and he hungered for wins and gaudy stats, just as he did in the Super Bowl year. And then he turned in what I consider to be the greatest QB performance of my lifetime when he led the Cardinals to the playoff win over the Packers. His performance in that game was virtually flawless---and as it turned out---it HAD to be and he KNEW it, which makes it all the more extraordinary. The beating he and the team took a week later at New Orleans was regrettable---and it was especially regrettable (but very understandable) to watch Warner a couple of weeks later retire a year short of his contract and say that he had "lost the fun of the game."
I will always believe that he would have played the two years and even possibly more if (a) the negotiations on his contract were swift, appropriate and decisive; and (b) if you had brought in an offensive coordinator to mesh with Warner the way Todd Haley did.
Others will disagree saying that Warner was concerned about his long-term health---and I understand that---but this is not what I saw in Warner's eyes when he retired---I saw a man who was exhausted from having to carry the entire weight of the franchise on his shoulders---and not feel as if he was treated properly in the process. Such a combination almost always results in a deterioration of one's morale---and in Warner's case, it was his morale that was shot---not his body. The guy remains fit as a fiddle.
Heading into last season there were no clear indications that Matt Leinart would be able to pick up the slack. Leinart had struggled mightily in relief performances---and never seem quite comfortable in Ken Whisenhunt's offense. But, hey, he was the logical choice finally---there was no one else who knew the system like Leinart did.
What I cannot understand was the decision to sign a QB in Derek Anderson who could not have been more opposite of what Warner was to the offense: a tough leader who could pick apart defenses with sheer smarts, timing and accuracy. Plus---the money you gave Anderson wasn't chicken scratch.
All this said---to watch what eventually unfolded with the QB situation last year was an absolute nightmare---save what rookie John Skelton was able to do in the last 4 games despite being told he might not start in favor of a new QB off the street in Richard Bartel. First of all, Skelton helped break the team's horrid 7 game losing streak in a decisive 43-13 home win over the Broncos---and then Skelton led the team in comeback fashion to its best win of the season 27-26 on Christmas over the Cowboys.
I will perfectly honest and say that the coaching that I saw from Ken Whisenhunt last year was the worst and most gutless coaching I have seen at any level of football. I was convinced that he was rubbing it all in your face for not letting him sign QB Marc Bulger. It was like: "here, see what you did."
Then---to hear Whisenhunt tell the local and national media that he wasn't happy with any of the QBs on his roster---made me sick to my stomach. John Skelton was 2-2 without having been worked in ALL YEAR into the offense, and he stood in the pocket like a man and played with not only poise, but a smile on his face. He was loving it. To lead that hapless team to a 2-2 record over the last 4 games was remarkable, in my opinion. To be talked about by his own head coach like he wasn't even a consideration, or could easily be dismissed as an option was egregious.
I was not a fan of Kevin Kolb's---because I question his toughness. The one quality that allowed Warner to thrive here was his toughness in staying in the pocket until the last nano-second until his target could gain two yards of separation when Warner would deliver the ball on the money where the WR could not be hanged out to dry.
What I see in Kolb thus far is a scared, skittish pocket QB---his instinct is to run backwards and not step into the pocket, let alone wait for the last nano-second to deliver a strike. I still can't fathom 17 yard sacks---or the hot potato throws he makes. Yes, he has a good arm---you called it great---not so sure it's great. I could tell you who has a stronger arm on the roster---but there's currently no investment in him, and it's not Kolb clone Richard Bartel.
This off-season I listened to your "All-In" speech and desperately wanted to feel inspired. You seem like a genuinely nice person---you even have a certain charisma---but I couldn't help but feel cynical about your spiel---to the point of feeling that it was simply a season tickets sales pitch.
Now to hear you state to the media that you had "addressed all the positions of need" in your off-season transactions makes me doubt you and your understanding of how to build and sustain a championship caliber football team all the more.
The casual Cardinal fan can tell you the offensive tackles are turnstiles and the outside linebackers provide no edge threat or pressure (which viewing a replay of the Super Bowl makes perfectly manifest). In the day and age, those are two areas that teams value the most---which is why every year we see a run of tackles and pass rushers in the first round.
In Ken Whisenhunt's and Russ Grimm's and the sitting duck defensive coordinator's 5 year tenure with the team we have not seen one good offensive tackle or 34 OLB---not one.
It speaks volumes to me that in this year's draft you elected to take a RB in round 2 (after using a 1st rounder on a RB following the Super Bowl---which was hardly the team's greatest need even then) and a situational TE in the 3rd round in lieu of drafting a legitimate 34 edge threat or offensive tackle.
Then---both AREAS were ignored in free agency---which convinced me that your "All-In" mantra was all rhetoric and little substance.
In addition, Whisenhunt is coaching as gutlessly as he did last year---this team is just as SOFT---and just as poorly coached. To tell you the truth, how often are we going to hear the "mental mistakes" excuse?
Sure there are a plethora of mental mistakes each game---but the overall toughness of this team is outrageously lacking. I watch other games and drool at how other teams come after people---then i watch the hapless Cardinals and it's clear to me---they are as soft as their coaches allow them to be. Plain and simple.
To hear you say that you "completely trust that Whisenhunt will solve the problems and solve them quickly"---is this blind faith or another sales pitch?
The bottom line is your product is becoming more and more unwatchable---it's like watching a bunch of undisciplined scaredy cats trying to act and talk like real football players.
Therefore---what I hope for more than anything else is that you experience an epiphany where you realize that you should put the fortunes on the organization in the hands of real football people and real, charismatic, hard-nosed football coaches.
I believe that if you do---things will turn around quickly, because you have amassed some impressive talent on the roster, albeit poorly coached and managed talent---and that once you get these players in the hands of real football people they will start to bring it the way real football payers do---not just individually, but as a unified team.
This organization needs direction and leadership---and you can provide it---if you will just examine the obvious.
I wish I could say that I have faith in you---and I desperately want to say that---believe-you-me---
But after hearing you say you addressed all the needs and that you trust Whisenhunt you diminished your credibility with me. Therefore, I hope that you were just trying to cast a positive spin on what has become a very bleak situation---and that deep down inside you know that you really didn't address all the personnel needs and that your current coaches are not true motivators of men or ones who can bring out the best in the players' talents.
If you make the tough decisions and get the right management in and coaching in place I will be forever grateful.
I do believe it is in you---trust your gut and get it done. Bring us back the Halas and give us another chance at the Lombardi. Put us in the right hands and make long-suffering Cardinal fans' ultimate dream come true!
Just see it for what it is.
With great hope,
Walter Mitchell
Cardinal Fan
I have been an avid Cardinal fan and supporter since 1963. Like you and your father I was first elated to see that you were able to build the new stadium---and I consider it a state-of-the-art facility. Thank you. Then, it was a dream come true to see our Cardinals win 4 playoff games and play in our very first Super Bowl---and come oh so close to achieving the ultimate prize in football.
Since that game, however, I have been dismayed at the organization's reaction to sudden and rare success---like they say, you have to act like you've been there before (even if you haven't)---but to see what's become of that Super Bowl team in two and quarter years is extremely disheartening to say the least.
What precipitated my initial dismay was how you handled Kurt Warner---I believe for right or for wrong that you took the wind out of his sails following the Super Bowl. He was the straw that stirred the drink, if you will. And yet---it was an utter embarrassment to watch him and his wife have to get wined and dined in red carpet fashion by the San Francisco 49ers. My issue is that it should have never ever come to that---and had Warner been amenable to moving his family, I strongly believe he would have left Arizona out of sheer frustration with your front office and the way you do business.
To Warner's credit---he did not let his frustration affect his play in 2009---Warner is the ultimate professional and he hungered for wins and gaudy stats, just as he did in the Super Bowl year. And then he turned in what I consider to be the greatest QB performance of my lifetime when he led the Cardinals to the playoff win over the Packers. His performance in that game was virtually flawless---and as it turned out---it HAD to be and he KNEW it, which makes it all the more extraordinary. The beating he and the team took a week later at New Orleans was regrettable---and it was especially regrettable (but very understandable) to watch Warner a couple of weeks later retire a year short of his contract and say that he had "lost the fun of the game."
I will always believe that he would have played the two years and even possibly more if (a) the negotiations on his contract were swift, appropriate and decisive; and (b) if you had brought in an offensive coordinator to mesh with Warner the way Todd Haley did.
Others will disagree saying that Warner was concerned about his long-term health---and I understand that---but this is not what I saw in Warner's eyes when he retired---I saw a man who was exhausted from having to carry the entire weight of the franchise on his shoulders---and not feel as if he was treated properly in the process. Such a combination almost always results in a deterioration of one's morale---and in Warner's case, it was his morale that was shot---not his body. The guy remains fit as a fiddle.
Heading into last season there were no clear indications that Matt Leinart would be able to pick up the slack. Leinart had struggled mightily in relief performances---and never seem quite comfortable in Ken Whisenhunt's offense. But, hey, he was the logical choice finally---there was no one else who knew the system like Leinart did.
What I cannot understand was the decision to sign a QB in Derek Anderson who could not have been more opposite of what Warner was to the offense: a tough leader who could pick apart defenses with sheer smarts, timing and accuracy. Plus---the money you gave Anderson wasn't chicken scratch.
All this said---to watch what eventually unfolded with the QB situation last year was an absolute nightmare---save what rookie John Skelton was able to do in the last 4 games despite being told he might not start in favor of a new QB off the street in Richard Bartel. First of all, Skelton helped break the team's horrid 7 game losing streak in a decisive 43-13 home win over the Broncos---and then Skelton led the team in comeback fashion to its best win of the season 27-26 on Christmas over the Cowboys.
I will perfectly honest and say that the coaching that I saw from Ken Whisenhunt last year was the worst and most gutless coaching I have seen at any level of football. I was convinced that he was rubbing it all in your face for not letting him sign QB Marc Bulger. It was like: "here, see what you did."
Then---to hear Whisenhunt tell the local and national media that he wasn't happy with any of the QBs on his roster---made me sick to my stomach. John Skelton was 2-2 without having been worked in ALL YEAR into the offense, and he stood in the pocket like a man and played with not only poise, but a smile on his face. He was loving it. To lead that hapless team to a 2-2 record over the last 4 games was remarkable, in my opinion. To be talked about by his own head coach like he wasn't even a consideration, or could easily be dismissed as an option was egregious.
I was not a fan of Kevin Kolb's---because I question his toughness. The one quality that allowed Warner to thrive here was his toughness in staying in the pocket until the last nano-second until his target could gain two yards of separation when Warner would deliver the ball on the money where the WR could not be hanged out to dry.
What I see in Kolb thus far is a scared, skittish pocket QB---his instinct is to run backwards and not step into the pocket, let alone wait for the last nano-second to deliver a strike. I still can't fathom 17 yard sacks---or the hot potato throws he makes. Yes, he has a good arm---you called it great---not so sure it's great. I could tell you who has a stronger arm on the roster---but there's currently no investment in him, and it's not Kolb clone Richard Bartel.
This off-season I listened to your "All-In" speech and desperately wanted to feel inspired. You seem like a genuinely nice person---you even have a certain charisma---but I couldn't help but feel cynical about your spiel---to the point of feeling that it was simply a season tickets sales pitch.
Now to hear you state to the media that you had "addressed all the positions of need" in your off-season transactions makes me doubt you and your understanding of how to build and sustain a championship caliber football team all the more.
The casual Cardinal fan can tell you the offensive tackles are turnstiles and the outside linebackers provide no edge threat or pressure (which viewing a replay of the Super Bowl makes perfectly manifest). In the day and age, those are two areas that teams value the most---which is why every year we see a run of tackles and pass rushers in the first round.
In Ken Whisenhunt's and Russ Grimm's and the sitting duck defensive coordinator's 5 year tenure with the team we have not seen one good offensive tackle or 34 OLB---not one.
It speaks volumes to me that in this year's draft you elected to take a RB in round 2 (after using a 1st rounder on a RB following the Super Bowl---which was hardly the team's greatest need even then) and a situational TE in the 3rd round in lieu of drafting a legitimate 34 edge threat or offensive tackle.
Then---both AREAS were ignored in free agency---which convinced me that your "All-In" mantra was all rhetoric and little substance.
In addition, Whisenhunt is coaching as gutlessly as he did last year---this team is just as SOFT---and just as poorly coached. To tell you the truth, how often are we going to hear the "mental mistakes" excuse?
Sure there are a plethora of mental mistakes each game---but the overall toughness of this team is outrageously lacking. I watch other games and drool at how other teams come after people---then i watch the hapless Cardinals and it's clear to me---they are as soft as their coaches allow them to be. Plain and simple.
To hear you say that you "completely trust that Whisenhunt will solve the problems and solve them quickly"---is this blind faith or another sales pitch?
The bottom line is your product is becoming more and more unwatchable---it's like watching a bunch of undisciplined scaredy cats trying to act and talk like real football players.
Therefore---what I hope for more than anything else is that you experience an epiphany where you realize that you should put the fortunes on the organization in the hands of real football people and real, charismatic, hard-nosed football coaches.
I believe that if you do---things will turn around quickly, because you have amassed some impressive talent on the roster, albeit poorly coached and managed talent---and that once you get these players in the hands of real football people they will start to bring it the way real football payers do---not just individually, but as a unified team.
This organization needs direction and leadership---and you can provide it---if you will just examine the obvious.
I wish I could say that I have faith in you---and I desperately want to say that---believe-you-me---
But after hearing you say you addressed all the needs and that you trust Whisenhunt you diminished your credibility with me. Therefore, I hope that you were just trying to cast a positive spin on what has become a very bleak situation---and that deep down inside you know that you really didn't address all the personnel needs and that your current coaches are not true motivators of men or ones who can bring out the best in the players' talents.
If you make the tough decisions and get the right management in and coaching in place I will be forever grateful.
I do believe it is in you---trust your gut and get it done. Bring us back the Halas and give us another chance at the Lombardi. Put us in the right hands and make long-suffering Cardinal fans' ultimate dream come true!
Just see it for what it is.
With great hope,
Walter Mitchell
Cardinal Fan
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